The Orientation of Jesuit Churches in the Chiquitos Missions of Eastern Bolivia

The Jesuit missions in South America were an important factor in the evangelisation of the continent during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. However, although the history and cultural aspects of the distinctive settlements that the missionaries created for indigenous peoples have been examined extensively, studies that address issues relating to archaeoastronomy have only recently begun to appear, primarily in relation to the orientation of churches built for Guaraní peoples in the Jesuit Province of Paraquaria (Province of Paraguay). The current paper continues and complements these studies of the region focusing on the ten mission churches, interpreted within the context of the surrounding landscape and the characteristics of the villages where the churches are located.